Fifteen Most Interesting
The Meditation Medium
Once Margaux R. E. Winter ’21-’22 graduates this semester, they plan to spend several months in two Buddhist monasteries: rising at the crack of dawn, chanting sutras alongside fellow practitioners, and silently meditating for hours.
15 Seniors of the Class of 2021
When they were first admitted, the members of the Class of 2021 made up one of the most diverse classes in Harvard’s history. The COVID-19 pandemic has spread them across the world — and challenged the notion of a singular “Harvard experience.” Today, without campus as an equalizer, the diversity that defined the Class of 2021 has been cast in a new light. In our final issue of the year, we profile 15 seniors — generated at random — to learn about their circumstances and explore how the pandemic has impacted their lives.
A Note to Readers
When they were first admitted, the members of the Class of 2021 made up one of the most diverse classes in Harvard’s history. The COVID-19 pandemic has spread them across the world — and challenged the notion of a singular “Harvard experience.” Today, without campus as an equalizer, the diversity that defined the Class of 2021 has been cast in a new light. In our final issue of the year, we profile 15 seniors — generated at random — to learn about their circumstances and explore how the pandemic has impacted their lives.
Tauheed Z. Islam
The cat's name is Tobi, short for Tobias, and Tauheed Z. Islam '21 shares him with his girlfriend of seven years. Spending time with her (and his cat) has been a silver lining of the pandemic.
Lucy Li
When Lucy Li and her peers at the Harvard College Open Data Project designed their January 2020 survey of the Harvard student body, COVID-19 “didn’t really seem like such a big deal.” Li is now back home in Kansas City, Kansas — and all that's changed.
Avril Saavedra
Growing up undocumented in New York City, Avril Saavedra was jealous when friends grumbled about extended family gatherings — those grumbles seemed like a privilege. Now, during a time when many Harvard students are physically isolated, she has been able to reconnect with family members in Uruguay she hasn’t seen in years.
Stephen M. Casper
Stephen M. Casper ’21 smiles for a Zoom screenshot while Trevor, his Madagascar hissing cockroach, crawls across his left cheek.
Natalie J. Gale
In March, Natalie J. Gale ’21 swapped Dunster House for her home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, a small town outside of Portland. She says she feels campus’s absence most through the artistic spaces she often occupied. “I really miss this one room in the Carpenter Center where you can just camp out for 12 hours and just print photos,” Gale says.
Akanksha D. Sah
Serving as president of Harvard Student Agencies amid a pandemic has been "really stressful," Akanksha D. Sah ’21 acknowledges. But it's "restored her faith in humanity."
Barbara A. Oedayrajsingh Varma
After finishing her workday, which actually consists of three jobs, all of which she completes from her apartment, Barbara A. Oedayrajsingh Varma goes on a walk through her neighborhood in the Shoreditch district of London.
Olivia K. Bryant
The pandemic sent the “aggressively British” Olivia K. Bryant back home to her family in Canterbury — and far from her life at Harvard. “I feel like I could completely go off the radar,” she says.
P. Winston Michalak
Though P. Winston Michalak misses spending time with his friends, competing with the club swim team, and seeing the Pfoho dining staff at meals, he feels lucky to spend so much time with his family. “I grew up hanging out with my siblings,” he says, “so it’s been easy to not feel so isolated.”
Nicole S. Moulia
In another life, one where Nicole S. Moulia was not intent on practicing immigration law and felt obliged to no one but herself, she’d write her own science fiction and fantasy. But Moulia is intent: She’s going to become an immigration lawyer.
Jia Y. Lim
Jia Y. Lim ’21 spent her summer helping Malaysia stockpile resources for national emergencies. Now she has returned to what she calls "a more mundane life" in Cambridge.
Michael A. Medaugh
When Michael A. Medaugh enters surgery on Jan. 6, he’ll place his lifelong dream — to work as an experimental surgeon — in someone else’s hands.
Christopher M. McGrory
Before leaving campus in March, Christopher M. McGrory’s main extracurricular commitment was playing for Harvard’s varsity baseball team. As the Ivy League has cancelled all seasons since March, McGrory says he has actually taken on more extracurricular activities this year.
Avril Saavedra 2
Uruguay has 12 million cows and three million people, which is “very noticeable,” Saavedra says.
Avril Saavedra 1
Spending the fall in Uruguay has allowed Saavedra to reconnect with family members she hasn't seen in years.